Blue Estate #3 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox & Robert Valley (art)

The Story: As the mob and detective thriller unfolds, a couple of college jocks get pulled into a situation that’s a little too large for them.

What’s Good: Creator-owned comics are always at a bit of a disadvantage to Big 2 superhero comics in a way that I rarely hear anyone talk about: It’s pretty easy to forget what is going on with the story.  You’re never that lost in a Wolverine comic (has claws, stabs people) or Batman comic (stalks the night, keeps young boys around), but with a brand new creator-owned comic, when you lose the tread you don’t have much to prop you back up.  And when you are lost, one of two things happens: You will toss the book down in disgust OR you will be entertained anyway and inspired to go back and re-read the last couple issues.

I very much had the latter experience with Blue Estate #3.  In the opening scene when these two college football players are about to get worked over by some mob guys, I honestly couldn’t remember what was going on.  BUT…the story telling (both script and art) was strong enough that you cold tell all you needed to know about the characters: college football players who think they’re tough but are suddenly in WAY over their head, mob boss is nutso and kinda bumbling, henchmen think their boss is kinda a buffoon, but will do what he says.  Later on there is a second scene where again you again have this effect with a senior cop (hardboiled, smokes, exudes confidence) and his son (fat, bumbling, embarrassment to his dad).

And that is what makes this a good comic.  It is overcoming some deficits (that I’ll talk about below) with very strong storytelling.  Some of it is the scripting, but a lot of credit needs to go to the gaggle of artists who work on this title.  These are all strong artists in their own right, but usually when you see four artists in the credits it equals “Hot Mess”.  What makes this work is that even though you can tell which artists work on which pages, the overall look and feel of the comic is remarkably consistent.  The whole thing is really strong and stylish and makes you want more.  And, by choosing to work in a more cartoony style, they are able to pull off this storytelling.  This comic would not work nearly as well with an Alex Ross style because you could not communicate the needed personality attributes.

Blue Estate #1 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox & Robert Valley (art), Kalvachev (colors, direction & design) & Philo Northrup (contributing editor)

The Story: Detective noir with a few clever twists to keep it fresh.

What’s Good: If you like the noirish detective genre you’re going to like this just fine.  And, if you like detective stories with a few novel, slightly campy twists, your’re going to like this more.  And if you like clever, stylish art you’ll probably like this a lot.

The story has all the things that you need for a good detective/crime story.  There is a sexy redhead who may or may not be the victim, there’s a private detective and there’s an organized crime angle.  What makes it fresh are the interesting little twists that are tossed in, such as a motion picture star who seems a LOT like Stephen Seagal who, after becoming washed up as a film star, ends up being an enforcer for the Russian mob (not to mention some very odd and unclear shower action between the film star & another mob enforcer).  And, the detective isn’t cool or hard-boiled. He’s basically Jonah Hill: fat, bumbling and questionable in competence.  This first issue is all set up, but the creative team as some neat elements to work with as the issue wraps up and you are definitely left wanting to know more.